Sunday, May 29, 2011

I shutter at the thought of starting another project when my basement laundry room is still missing cabinets. The closet doors are not painted and there is a lot of touch-up/finish work to do. But, if your like any other passionate thrifty decorator when the mood strikes and you have a few hours to spare... why not?

However, my process of decorating a room is probably unlike anything you have seen before. One tiny, and I mean tiny bedroom can turn my home into an utter disaster area.

Have you ever read the story, Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren? If not, you need to know she did the most mundane tasks in a most unconventional way.

Today I am Pippi not Patty.

If it's raining outside go ahead and saw your shutter down to size in the kitchen. Can't find the skill saw... (boys!!!) try a miter saw, break it and finish the job with a coping saw. Sand and paint the shutter right there too. Paint the room in under 2 hours. Don't remove the furniture, just pile everything on the bed and crawl around on top of the furniture to reach the high places. Next, gather all fabric remnants that might work in the room and throw them on the bed too. Consider making throw pillows, although you really don't want to sew, so wrap the fabric around pillows to see how they look and continue to paint.

Get the idea...

The only thing I am missing is a horse on my porch.

Let me just take you for a walk through my bedroom redo.

I decided to hang the draperies along the wall because it has a funky door that leads right into the living room. (Very old house) I also hung new curtains in my living room yesterday and these were just lying around. So what does Pippi do? She hangs the panel too low and finds that it doesn't fit the wall. Pippi doesn't measure first...hmm. No problem, she wanted to see what the bed looked like against them anyway. Lots of holes in the wall now.

After considerable debate I decide the walls are all wrong for my new look. I have left-over paint from the basement renovation in the perfect color. Cottage Linen-yes!

Do you feel a story coming on... or the reason for a

hot dog and mustard-ish wall color...?

Long ago, when I moved into the Coop, it had been vacant and vandalized. There was a dirty brown smear around the perimeters of every room. Kinda like "ring around the collar" but room instead. Who knows... big hairy dirty dogs? I scrubbed and scrubbed and just couldn't take it. There I was, pretty much broke, but I had a lot of paint left over from other jobs. I mixed it all together "Pippi style" and came up with the most lovely shade of gold-ish-yellow-green-satin-semi-gloss... at least it was clean and looked Old World-ish.

Yes, I suppose my inspiration for this re-do is new paint for a fresh summery look, but also the $4 duvet cover that I found at St. Vincent's. There were four in perfect condition. No, I don't have four feather beds and that's what the cashier asked too. I am planning to make a slipcover for my sofa with the others.

Did I tell you Pippi has a fabric problem?

Or how about this for a little inspiration... Baby B's fiance' was out yard sailing and bought this print for $5. The frame is hand carved and the colors are perfect. It also reminds Pippi of her past when she sailed the seven seas with her father...

I want to make some kind of beach-cottage sign and use some grey barn wood somewhere in the room. I might actually get out the sewing machine for pillows and a bed-skirt.

For now, Pippi needs a break from decorating. She is still in her pajamas and for some reason there is sawdust in the kitchen sink.

Sunday, May 15, 2011

I really don't know what came over me yesterday... I actually finished a project!

Strange but true, I finished painting a buffet that I have moved twice to different homes, that sat in storage for year, was my workbench in a garage for another year, and has now come to rest in my entryway. Keep in mind it has been there, all of last year with only one drawer painted white.

I give "shabby chic" a whole new perspective!

Do you still love me...?

I'll behave.

My house is too small to fit the buffet in a more suited place and so she fits snuggly in this little nook for much needed storage.

So, a-painting-we-will-go.

Please excuse the leaves that blew in, Christmas rug and more peel n' stick tile. (Can you tell the entryway is on the list for, "totally gut and re-do?")

I have always enjoyed the curvy legs. My Mom had a buffet almost like this and curvy legs too. Another reason I have lugged it around for so many years...

And she's missing pieces, the veneer is peeling, only 4 original knobs, but what IS still here I love. Did I mention that I bought her at a yard sale for $15? Ha, a long time ago when I really didn't have $15 to spare.

The makeover is complete.

Okay, almost.

I really like the black Fleur De Lis knobs, but I'm not sure about the blue Bozo The Clown pulls. I will paint them black or get something different. I was just so excited to have her done and ready to play dress-up that I stuck the blue knobs on and refilled her drawers.

Seriously, my heart started jumping right out of my chest when I saw Marilyn's house, this month's featured cottage. You have to hurry over and take a look. This is what I'm after. Lots of white paint, lots of painted furniture and I already have a similar clock.

Enjoy your visit.

My blog is about...

the evolution of a cottage in a rural village in Idaho, homely refered to as, "The Coop." Follow along the journey of a one-woman-show, with loads of imagination, two-hands, power tools, and true-grit, to see this thing called, "living through renovation" happen, one board, tile, shovel full of dirt, at a time.

Followers

Total Pageviews

"I Dream in Vintage"

I am an old fashioned country girl, with a pinch of new age sassiness. Anything that reminds me of my childhood, growing up on a farm, rings my bells! Green, white, chippy, peeling paint, rust, tattered quilts, old china, make me smile. Chickens... did anybody say chickens? I love them. I simply dream in vintage and my name is, Patty.